8/20/10

Magazines #9: The Saturday Evening Post (January 14, 1961) Part One

Here's something that every housewife was drooling over - a fridge you didn't have to defrost! Many of you probably have no experience with a fridge/freezer with no auto defrost, so it's easy to underestimate the power of this convenience. One advantage was that Suzie Homemaker no longer had to get on her hands and knees while her appliance drained all day. It wasn't an easy job.

Another advantage was that you could actually see your frozen foods! Without auto defrost, your ham and turkey looked like snowdrifts in your freezer. Plus, everything stuck together like they'd been slathered with Super Glue. Best of all, your fridge and freezer didn't smell like hot sick ass. The air in auto-defrost appliances actually circulated.

The nifty pink color was sure to make the neighboorhood wives green with envy. But the cherry on top had to be the ice maker.

HOLY SHIT! You fill a pitcher of water, pour it in the icecube tray, wait several hours, and BAM! ice just falls out when you flip it into the storage bin. Dad's gin on the rocks never tasted so great.
... and speaking of taste, how about bacon pancakes?... er, baconcakes? Actually looks kinda good in an artery hardening sorta way. Don't really get the need for Jemima's recipe card - isn't this just batter poured over strips of bacon? My wife watches the Food Network every effing day, and she claims to have never seen bacon pancakes prepared before. It seems like such an obvious combination.

The illustration below is from the Nero Wolf story "The Counterfeiter's Knife (Part One)" by Rex Stout. As you well know, I am a serious fan of the 1970s, but I must admit, the artwork in magazines from the 50s and 60s were often breathtaking. Indeed, in the 70s, newsstand magazines got away from the vibrant artwork, and moved toward photography - much cheaper to commission, and most readers had lost an appreciation for this type of illustration.

This illustration is by Austin Briggs. Briggs is mainly known for illustrating the Flash Gordon strips for many years. Below is a panel of Briggs' work for the Flash Gordon daily.

The story itself was published with two other Nero Wolf novellas by Rex Stout as Homicide Trinity (1962). This story in particular, was made into an Italian movie called Nero Wolfe: La casa degli attori in 1970. We all know how much the Italians loved mysteries and thrillers in the 60s and 70s - the giallo ("yellow")books and movies from this period have a huge following to this day. I, personally, love the genre, and the Nero Wolf stories are a perfect combination of American mystery and Italian giallo.

This next ad bothers me in several ways. First of all, Rolo caramels don't seem to have any correlation to the Old West - they're a British candy for chrissake. Secondly, the artistry is kinda poor - the kid looks bigger than the dad, and he's drawn "cartoony" while the dad looks to be drawn in a more realistic style. I take it The Necco Kid is about to use his pa as a horse; however, it looks like he's beating the shit out of him. I mean, Necco Kid looks pissed, and the dad doesn't exactly look playful either.

I'm also very confused. The Necco Kid (according to what I could find on the Internet) was a marketing tool for NECCO, the company behind NECCO Wafers and Clarke Bars. NECCO had nothing to do with Rolo, which was owned by Mackintosh, until it was bought out in 1988. Could somebody clarify this for me?

1961 was an interesting year for Coca Cola. The company had been supplying to Arabic countries for a number of years, but as yet had not set up shop in Israel - inciting many to claim the company was anti-Semitic. In '61 a bottle of Coke was found by the Arabs which appeared to have Hebrew writing on it (it was actually Ethiopian); thus causing a huge uproar in the Arab populations. The Coke distributor in Egypt was quick to deny any association with Israel, and went overboard in their denial of any business dealings with the Jewish country. Thus, accusations of anti-Semitism against Coke were given even more foundation.

FYI, Clark Bars (and Zagnut) were originally made by the D.L. Clark Candy Company of McKeesport, PA, which moved to Pittsburgh in the 1920s. The old Clark Bar Factory in Pittsburgh is now a sports bar next to Heinz Field, the Steeler's stadium, and after a few changes of ownership, Clark Bars wound up with NECCO, while Zagnut went to Hershey.

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